The Crocodile Hunter: The spellbinding new thriller from the master of the genre (Jonas Merrick series) Paperback – 18 Nov. 2021

I have enjoyed many books by Gerald Seymour as he has a very distinctive writing style and like John Le Carre in 'The Little Drummer Girl' he tries to take the reader into the minds of his characters. In Seymour's case he has a ruminative style of writing in which the same thoughts and feelings keep coming back as the characters reflect on their experiences. At the same time he can move a plot along to a conclusion. Sometimes his writing can be perhaps too introspective and in some books the plot is implausible so it becomes hard to suspend disbelief which of course is part of the enchantment of fiction.The present book features a disaffected villain similar to many other characters in his books. These are people who cannot form relationships and are very aloof from others with occasional feelings of loneliness and vulnerability. The 'hero' is also similar to other books - a person disrespected by his colleagues who proceeds to succeed where others have failed.The template for this is Forsyth 'The Day of the Jackal' where the jackal and the detective who pursues him successfully play out this dynamic across the book. However, Seymour adds a great deal to this basic plot structure and when it works what results can only be described as 'having depth' There is a great deal to reflect on in the present book as it examines themes in present day politics.The book does reach a fine conclusion but at the same time remains open ended. No plot spoilers here - I wonder if Seymour is going to do a sequel to look at the loose ends. The unassuming hero of the book has certainly been portrayed in greater depth and detail than is normally the case in the author's books so he may make a return.Along the way there is a wonderful comic scene in a charity shop outside Canterbury - not to be missed!

Still one of the best writers.

Excellent storyline - fast pace - believable characters - a very plausable storyline - A read you wont want to put down and leave you thinking afterwards - I like to imagine how the book wouild translate to film or a TV series and this is one of them that would do well - I could image Alec Guiness taking the role of Merrrik but as this is impossible or maybe not with the magic of AI but realistically it would be Toby Jones he would fit the bill well . Hope it gets picked up

Jonas Merrick has worked for MI5 for decades, always following a fixed routine, arriving at and departing from the office at the same times every day, and avoiding any attention from his colleagues. This all changes on his last day before retirement. Dreading the imminent ordeal of a presentation, he ducks out of the office and goes for a walk, ending up in one of the park areas near the Houses of parliament. There his years of silent dedication to his work come to fruition, and he recognises the lonely figure seated on a bench as one of the potential radicalised targets whom his department had been tracking. Merrick accosts the man, and his actions avert a terrorist outrage.As a consequence, he is asked to stay on beyond his scheduled retirement and to analyse high risk participants in jihadi campaigns overseas. This leads him to focus his attention on Cameron Jilkes, a young man who had grown up in Canterbury but had departed to join Islamist extremists engaged in military action in Syria. Various intelligence leads suggest that a new terrorist action is planned, and Merrick is watching for any possible suspects returning from radicalising experiences overseas.The novel then follows various separate threads, including that of Jilkes’s return to the UK, and that of a couple of pensioners who had chosen to supplement their dwindling income by agreeing to act as couriers, bringing a concealed weapon back from their driving holiday in Germany. Seymour manages these separate story lines very capably, building the tension throughout. His characters are very empathetic and plausible too.I was less keen on his writing style, which almost drove me to give up on the book at various points, but I am glad I persevered to the end.

Well written and finely constructed plot. Believable

I have all of Seymour's books and read each new one with great pleasure because of his well researched story telling skills, which over the average 400 pages length keep you interested till the end. This book is well into that vein and so will not disappoint all his regular readers.The problem is that over such a duration of regular output (almost one book a year) , there is inevitably a feeeling of in the more recent titles the feeling of haven't I been here before, whether the story or characters? In this case, with suitable location and character changes and updating for more recent events, there is a lot that I recall from the earlier "Timebomb", though the death at the end of the curmudgeon UK MI6 intelligence officer in that earlier novel is here replaced with a comparable surviving MI5 version. If there is a key difference it is that here there are more than usual loose ends left hanging for a Seymour book, so one awaits to see if there will be a sequel.What is also noticeable in his storytelling over the years is that Seymour is increasingly more criticial in his depicting of characters on the incompetence of senior UK Intelligence directors and management and its reliance on a mixture of luck and skilled but often despised long serving junior officers. If Seymour's analysis of how close we often come to disaster is close to the truth, then we are as a society more lucky than we might ever realise1

Another absolute cracker from Gerald Seymour! The main character Jonas is brilliant so old fashioned in his ways but very clever! Keeps you reading all the way.

Characters well drawn and the processes of deduction build cleverly. You won't guess how it is all resolved.

As usual another brilliant book by Seymour. He builds the plot like a mosaic, patiently putting in place little pieces which steadily come together to present a complete picture. Writing as a Pointellist painting. Buying the next book in the series within one hour of finishing this book.

A very tense story, brilliantly written. The characters have credible psychological depth

Having read Harry's Game many many years (which I enjoyed very much) I've now come across another fantastic book by the this author. Highly recommendable, enjoyable and keeps you turning the pages!

Recently discovered Gerald Seymour and working through his books as a subtitute for John LeCarre (read all!) Bears comparison with the master in places, excellent in depth description of the characters mindset and background Jonas Merrick reminds me of George Smiley. Spoiled a little by a some implausible bits. Sitting down on a park bench, by coincidence next to a would be suicide bomber. Really?? Towards the end he asks one of the armed response cops to get him a dog lead. (Clever idea, won't spoil it for you!) Cop comes back with the lead, complete with dog. Just imagine, an armed cop comes to your door at night and asks for a dog lead. You say "Sure, here we are. Take the dog too!" Really??????Otherwise a great read, interesting page turner. I'll continue to work through his books.